


Siblings

by dyllpickless



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Brotherly Bonding, Gen, Ghost Ben Hargreeves, Good Sibling Ben Hargreeves, Good Sibling Diego Hargreeves, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, No Incest, POV Ben Hargreeves, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Soft Diego Hargreeves, Stuttering Diego Hargreeves, TUA Secret Santa, TUA Secret Santa 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21948415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyllpickless/pseuds/dyllpickless
Summary: Diego finds Klaus on the streets, all bloody and passed out. He takes him back to his place and after patching him up and putting him down for the night, he talks to Ben.This is my secret santa gift for my wonderful friend (read: mom)@manynerdthingson Tumblr!!! I love you <3
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves/Eudora Patch
Comments: 19
Kudos: 239





	Siblings

Being a ghost wasn’t fun by any measure. Ben was stuck watching one person ruin his life over and over again, a life that was stolen from Ben. It wasn’t  _ fair. _ But he stayed. Sure, he probably could have moved on and “followed the bright white light,” or whatever they say in the movies, but that wouldn’t be fair. Because that would mean leaving Klaus alone. And he would  _ never _ leave Klaus alone. Not in a million years. Not even when sticking by Klaus meant sitting on a dirty curb next to his unconscious sibling, who was face down in a small puddle of his own blood.

There wasn’t much he could do to save his sibling from the two men, though he was able to warn him. Klaus was busy popping the pills he had just stolen to notice the two hulking figures until Ben let out a sharp shout and got his attention. Had he been sober, Klaus would have been able to take them down easily, but the cocktail of drugs and alcohol he’d been taking nonstop since they were teens begged to differ. So, Klaus was nearly as useless as Ben as the two men stormed over and ripped the drugs away from him before beating him to a sickening pulp and literally leaving him in a gutter. Ben would have laughed at how cliche it sounded if he wasn’t haunted by the wheezing he heard every time Klaus breathed.

_ At least he’s breathing. Sometimes… Well. _

They never really explored Klaus’ powers, but Ben suspected that Klaus has had a few too many close calls to just chalk it up to luck. He never mentioned it to Klaus, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Klaus had… died before. At least a few times. It was impossible to miss when the breathing would just stop, or when the EMTs would get that panicked look on their faces and start shouting a bunch of different code words.

But that wasn’t what was happening this time. This time, Klaus was breathing, rattly as it may be. And all Ben could do was just sit there and hope a passerby had it in them to call an ambulance. That didn’t happen very often.

At this point in his “life,” Ben just expected for them to be left alone until dawn, when a police cruiser would roll up and shoo them away. Later, Ben would suppose that that’s why he didn’t register it when a car approached them, until there was a familiar sounding shout.

“Klaus?” Ben’s head snapped up, looking at Klaus before turning to try and find the source of the sound. “Oh my god, K-Klaus. Holy shit.”

Diego— _ Diego! _ —ran up, his trembling hands hovering over Klaus’ body for a moment before gently shaking his shoulder to try and wake him up. Ben watched in anticipation at something he’d hoped he could do since day one of following Klaus around as a ghost. Both his and Diego’s faces fell when Klaus didn’t respond. 

“Fuck. Alright. That’s okay. Let’s go, buddy. I’ll take you to my place, huh? I’ll patch you up, and everything will be fine.” As he was talking through some stutters, Diego was carefully repositioning Klaus. Ben backed out of the way (he may not be be corporeal, but he’d be damned if he let somebody step through him) and watched as Diego ever so gingerly picked Klaus up—cradling his body against his chest. “It’ll be okay,” Diego soothed as he walked Klaus over to his car. It took some maneuvering (oh, how Ben wished he could have helped) but Diego was able to get him into the back seat, Ben quickly following.

This wasn’t the first time Ben had seen Diego since they parted ways after leaving the Academy. Even after Klaus left that little apartment they lived in together, he still stopped by every once in a while. But after his third trip to rehab without change, things shifted. Klaus just stopped visiting Diego, much to Ben’s dismay. Whenever he asked why he stopped, Klaus always mumbled something about being a burden. That always made Ben frown.

“You’ll be alright, K,” Diego muttered through the side of his mouth as he sped past another red light. It was almost comforting to know that Diego’s driving hadn’t gotten any less dangerous.

The rest of the ride was relatively silent, save for the squeal of Diego’s old brakes and intermittent whispers of panicked comfort from the driver. Ben kept a careful eye on Klaus, who surprisingly didn’t seem to have been too affected by the limited moving.  _ Good job, Diego, for putting our training to good use,  _ Ben mused.

More maneuvering occurred when Diego was trying to get Klaus out of the car, but for the most part, Klaus remained stable. Diego set him up on the couch, pillows on his sides to keep him from moving. He was hesitant to leave him alone, but he eventually had to so he could get a washcloth and his first aid kit. If anybody asked, Diego definitely didn’t sprint when he had to go get them. Ben would say he absolutely did.

“ _ Puta madre,” _ Diego mumbled as he kneeled on the ground next to Klaus and started wiping away the blood, “what the fuck happened to you, man? Who—” He had to pause what he was doing to unclench his fists. “I-If I ever find out who did this to you…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I mean,  _ fuck, _ K.”

There wasn’t a response. Ben hated how silent Klaus was. Even when he slept, he was making noises—he’d talk, or groan, or make other odd sounds, but at least he wouldn’t be quiet. The dead silence was sickening.

Diego chewed on his lip. Ben suspected he was waiting for Klaus to respond, too. “Well, first I’m going to check for broken bones. I m-might be able to set those, but it would be hard.”

Ben looked away at this part. He hated seeing Diego’s usually steady hands shake as they gently skated over Klaus’ bruised skin. It never failed to stick out in his mind, each time it happened—during trainings, after they found Klaus passed out in a drug-induced haze, or a situation like this. But, there weren’t any situations truly like this. Sure, Diego had picked Klaus up off the streets before, but he’d never seen Klaus in this state. Ben was sure Diego was feeling just as sick as he was, if not more.

“Nothing’s broken,” Diego said through a sigh of relief. Ben remembered how painful resetting a bone was, and he could tell they were both equally relieved that they wouldn’t have to put Klaus through that. “And I don’t think I’ll have to s-stitch anything up, either.”

Still, there were some particularly deep cuts, which Diego was able to close with the help of more than a few butterfly bandages. Ben was almost grateful that Klaus was unconscious, since that meant he didn’t have to be awake for when Diego cleaned the cuts and rinsed them out with alcohol. 

“You’ll be alright,” Diego muttered once he was done. He gently brushed a curl out of Klaus’ face with a red-stained thumb. “It’ll be okay.” He paused for a moment, his thumb still against Klaus’ skin. Ben could have sworn he saw a tear slip down Diego’s cheek, but within an instant the fabric of his sleeve had wiped against his skin and any hint of weakness was gone. “Alright,” he started, clearing his throat, “I’m going to set you up in my bed. I can take the couch.”

It kind of stung that Diego didn’t join Klaus in the bed, if Ben was completely honest. On really tough nights back at the academy, what Klaus deemed the “Even Squad” would meet in Diego’s room and do what they called the “Klaus Sandwich.” It helped all of them. Diego would have his back against the wall with a full view of the room, so nobody could sneak up on them. Klaus would take the middle—the pressure of his siblings against his sides helped calm his nerves. Ben would be on the outside with his stomach facing the room, to help combat his fear of accidentally releasing The Horror and hurting his siblings. 

After they all left the Academy, there would be times when Klaus couldn’t sleep, when Ben would tell him about a particularly cozy Klaus Sandwich. It never failed to help him drift off.

Some part of Ben had hoped that Diego would try and continue the tradition, so he frowned as he watched Diego tuck Klaus into his bed, and then turn and walk away. “Wait,” Ben mumbled, and followed him. “Diego, you have to watch—” He cut himself off and sighed. If Diego wasn’t going to stay by Klaus’ side, then he would. Ben positioned himself halfway between his two siblings, perched on a table in a way that he could see both at once without needing to turn his head. “I have to do everything myself,” he complained, though he was smiling.

He watched as Diego sat down on the couch in the one part that wasn’t soaked through with blood. “Al’s gonna kill me,” Diego muttered under his breath, making Ben laugh. “I’m going to have to get rid of this whole thing.” He pulled out a knife from one of his many hiding spots and started playing with it. 

Everything seemed to have calmed down by that point. Klaus was as safe as he could be, given the circumstances, and Diego was starting to wind down.  _ Good, _ Ben thought and pulled out a book.

For a few moments, it was peaceful and quiet. Ben found himself getting sucked into his book, so it took a bit for him to register that Diego was talking again. It took even longer that Diego was talking to him. 

_ Oh. _

“—I guess, but it’s still okay. I’m adjusting. I’m a lot better at the physical stuff than the book stuff, but that’s not a surprise.” Diego laughed dryly and ran a hand through his hair. “The instructor says she thinks that police work can be a good fit for me if I keep trying, though. I hope so. I want to help people.”

_ Was Diego going to be a cop? _ Ben had to admit, it was an odd image. With the authority issues Diego had collected throughout his childhood, Ben wasn’t sure if that would be the best fit for him. Not to mention how many cops had treated Klaus like garbage just because he was homeless and an addict. Still, though, Ben could definitely see Diego using it as a way to help people.

Diego laughed. “I wonder if they’ll let me use my knives. I know I’m biased, but they really are better than guns. Guns are so…” He trailed off, not able to grasp the word. “Well, anyway, I guess I’ll worry about that later.”

Ben smiled, warmth spreading in his chest. It was nice to hear Diego’s laugh. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him so much as smile.

“Er, I met a girl. She’s really, really awesome. Her name is Eudora Patch.  _ God, _ she’s so… I mean…” He chewed on his lip for a moment, trying to find a good adjective. “She’s beautiful. But that’s not a big enough word. I don’t know. She’s really smart and, man, she knows how to take care of herself. There are some creeps at the academy, but she doesn’t need any help dealing with him. There was this one time when some guy challenged her to spar, and, God, she took him out like he was  _ nothing. _ I think she’d give me a hard time if we went against each other, and I’m  _ me. _ She’s just so fantastic, and…” He grinned and ran a hand through his hair, “man, I’m thinking about asking her out to dinner or something.”

Ben let out a laugh. Diego? On a date? He  _ had _ to see that.

“I don’t know, though. I’ve never done anything like that.” He paused to glare at a space in the air about three feet to Ben’s right. “If you tell Klaus this, I’ll find a way to kill you again. But, uh, I’m really nervous about it. She’s so awesome and I’m just  _ me _ and what if she laughs at me when I ask her out? Or we go out to eat and I do something wrong and she hates me?”

Diego chuckled nervously and shook her head. “Man, I’m starting to sound like Klaus when he gets all worked up.” At the mention of their sibling, the tone shifted slightly. “I really hope he’s okay. I—When he wakes up, could you tell him that my door is always open? If he ever needs a place to crash, or food to eat, he’s welcome. I’m not the richest person on the planet, but whatever I own is his. Thanks for watching out for him. You—You’re doing a good job.”

And God, Ben really wanted to cry just then. It was hard, taking care of Klaus, especially when he couldn’t touch him. There were some nights where all he could do was sit by Klaus and keep watch, and hope that he could shout and wake Klaus up if trouble came. It was stuff like that that made Ben worry that maybe he wasn’t doing well. But here was Diego, telling him he was doing a good job. If he could touch people, Ben would be across the room hugging Diego at that moment.

They stayed up talking like that—well, Diego talking and Ben listening and wishing he could respond—for a few hours. Diego talked about everything under the sun, even things that he refused to talk about when they were kids. It was really, really nice. Ben couldn’t stop smiling.

Diego dozed off at around two in the morning, leaving Ben in silence, save for the snores of his siblings. Klaus wasn’t even talking in his sleep. Now that he knew Klaus was safe, the silence wasn’t so terrifying. When Ben went to check on him, he didn’t look panicked like he usually does when he’s having a nightmare or being tortured by ghosts. No, this time he looked peaceful. Happy, almost. Even as kids, whenever the Even Squad slept together, none of them had nightmares. Ben supposed that didn’t change as adults.

He thought back to Diego’s offer to let Klaus sleep at his place.  _ Every night could be like this, _ he realized. _ No nightmares. Diego talking to me. Everybody opening up to each other. _ That brought a smile to Ben’s face. Things could be  _ better. _ He took one last look at his peacefully sleeping siblings, and realized that in that moment, things were good.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading <3 Kudos and comments are much appreciated!
> 
> Author's Note:
> 
>   * Puta madre: Spanish interjection used to express frustration
>   * Klaus and Ben _absolutely_ had opinions on Diego joining the police force and it is a tragedy that we didn’t get to see those in the show. Given how a lot of cops treat homeless queer people that appear to have a mental illness? Yeah. Not to mention, Klaus and Ben probably saw some shit. They definitely had Capital O Opinions on the matter.
> 



End file.
